Ericameria nauseosa var. leiosperma

Smooth-fruit rabbitbrush, Smooth-Fruit Rabbitbrush

Family: Asteraceae · Type: shrub · Native

Smooth-fruit rabbitbrush is a California native shrub found in the eastern Sierra Nevada and desert mountains in dry sandy and rocky habitats at elevations of 700 to 2,400 meters. Flowering from August to October, this plant produces yellow flowers in compact clusters with straw-colored to slightly purple involucres. Growing 30 to 60 centimeters tall with closely matted yellow stems that are often nearly leafless during flowering, it has a dense and compact growth habit. Its leaves are thread-like, measuring 10 to 30 millimeters long, sparse and narrow against the shrub's structure. The fruit is distinctive for being completely glabrous, with smooth seed surfaces that contrast with the plant's woolly appearance.

Habitat: Common. Dry sand, gravel, rocky crevices

Bloom period: Aug-Oct

Elevation: 700-2400 m

Bioregions: SNE, DMtns

California counties: San Bernardino, Inyo, Los Angeles, Alameda, Mono, Modoc, Sierra

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.